homeschool Archives - Spoonful of Imagination

Summer Reading for the Little Ones (& busy ones)

June 11, 2015 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

We are only a week into summer, but already loving it! We worked so hard on so many new concepts this school year. As a homeschool mom, I am especially proud of completing another year. Since I teach my kids all year, getting the kids to read during the summer and not feel like they are doing “school” can be tricky. My kids love earning electronic time, and I can play into their love for electronics, by using Disney Story Central.

Disney Story Central is the largest collection of Disney digital stories, featuring a wide array of Disney stories and characters that kids and families know and love.

I can have the best of both worlds by sharpening their love for reading while also allowing them to have some screen time.

The computer doesn’t always make sense for reading. When we are on the go or want to all cuddle up in a more comfy location, we can turn to our iPad. I love that this program can be played on both.

I let my kids pick which books they would like to read from Disney Story Central from our computer. I love that it is a cross-platform experience. Disney Story Central is available via iPhone and iPad app, tablet-optimized website and Video on Demand (AT&T U-Verse).

One of my favorite features of this program is the customizable bookshelves for each member of the family. With a soon to be third grader and first grader, my boys are on different reading levels and they can get personalized reading recommendations for the level they need.

When we were selecting some books, I kept in mind my little Reagan. She’s in preschool and loves to read books! With each book there is the option to read it aloud or have it read aloud to you. She could sit for hours and have these books read to her. She loves it!

Disney Story Central gives families the freedom to choose the reading experience that suits them best, whether through an annual subscription service (unlimited access to the expansive library) or a-la-carte options, using Disney Book Tokens. The Disney book token system works like currency and allows parents to give their kids the opportunity to pick out the books they WANT to read.

My kids love picking out books to read. They sort through, compare, talk about the characters and their favorite parts of the different stories. Reading is so important and starting a fun way to do it as a kid will hopefully create a lifetime love for reading in them.

You can participate in Disney Story Central‘s ‘Mid-Summer Light Reads’ Campaign. The campaign will promote weekly summer reading themes featuring selected Disney titles. By participating you can unlock free books and enter a special sweepstakes! Launching today, June 11, the campaign will run through August 13.

How do you encourage your kids to read during the summer? Thanks so much for stopping by!

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.

I’m Not Here To Be Average

March 15, 2015 By Erica Deuel Leave a Comment

I saw this quote somewhere on Pinterest recently, and I have not been able to shake it from my head.

Everyone wants to leave a mark and to feel like they made a difference in the world.

When I think of my kids, when I think of life on this earth, and even when I think of my day-to-day life…I hope and pray that I am not average. Who dreams of being average, right!?

For us, we are in the middle of tackling our foster care paper work to get recertified. We started in January, but in reality it hasn’t been until the last two weeks have we really started going after it. There are so many forms and appointments needed to get this done. It’s consuming and draining. As I have finally started it, its had me thinking “why has it taken 5 months to get this done?” It is our heart beat. It is a part of our calling. We want to help. Why have we waited so long to get back into it?

The short of the answer is we moved, we lived with a friends for a while, and since then we have been setting up house. The deeper issue is that I wasn’t ready. I think our whole family needed time to heal.

I know for me, I left our last experience thinking my voice didn’t matter. Doing this ministry didn’t matter. We didn’t make a difference. No one cared what we thought.

It’s important to know the state of your heart. That may be how I felt, but it wasn’t the truth. My voice did matter. It mattered when I spoke truth to the hurting heart and those who had power of his/her future. What others did with given information was not my responsibility. It was just my job to love well.

It may not be foster care for you. It may just be your relationship with your own kids. It may be your job, your ministry, your neighborhood, etc. But, can you relate?

The days can be so long. The moments can feel like they don’t matter. It can seem like there are no roots growing. But what I know to be true is those are emotional responses. It takes the hard work of showing up every day, week, month doing the small things that may be considered average to produce change or become something powerful.

It is the commitment to the average everyday tasks and experiences done in truth and love that can be awesome. I made this little sign and printed it huge as an engineer print, and it now hangs in my kids bathroom to remind us all.

I first showed you this bathroom here, and I am excited to now have a print in it that I think can speak truth over my kids, our company, and any other hurting child that comes through our doors.

Mom life is hard. Foster care is hard, yet these two jobs may be the most important roles I ever play. May these average moments (like getting an afternoon snack handed out that all three agree on) matter.

There are moments when I see that they do matter. As we have tackled our paper work, gone to doctor visits and prepared for home visits. I have asked my kids…

“Do you want to do foster care again?”

“Why do you want to do this again?”

“Why do we do this?”

Their responses melt me, stop me in my tracks, and remind me: it’s not about me.

So, we can love on kids

So, we can help make their lives different

I want the kids to feel special

I want them to feel love

Hope their family will treat them better and learn good stuff

Hope their mom and dad can be good parents

Give them good food

Take good care of them

I can share my toys

I can be nice to them

Love it patient. Love is kind.

I’m excited to meet new people.

I hope they like to catch bugs.

These sweet kids are a huge part of my world. The way I talk and walk in my everyday moments are affecting the little hearts in my home…no matter if they are my biological, extended family, or in the foster care system. Words and actions have power.

So, all you tired, emotionally exhausted, have nothing left to give at the end of the day mamas out there know this…you aren’t average. Those dreams of being something awesome…are already true. Pick up your feet, wipe off the dust, ask for forgiveness, forgive yourself, pray for strength and keep on going. Just keep swimming.

**Please note: This print is now available as an automatic download purchase here, so you too can print it out.**

Preschool Paint Project (for when you are painting)

March 8, 2015 By Erica Deuel 1 Comment

Have you ever started painting a room and mid project: your child wakes up, nap time is over, the show it over, kids get home, etc?

It happens to me often. I know when I am in the “zone” I like to just go. You know what I mean? It’s a hard part of motherhood that you often have to stop something you want to do, because a child needs you. It is also one of the blessings. Your child needs you. This season goes so fast.

My little Reagan has been waiting so patiently while I painted her bothers room, my craft room, and our guest/foster care room. She was so excited when I told her we would be starting her room.She is my fellow crafter. She will color and craft all day, and the moments we get to do it together are some of my favorite moments of being her mom. I knew I needed to include her in the process, but I was not sure quite how. Let’s be honest, I knew there would be crazy drip marks and paint on the carpet (more than my usual mess), if I let her attack the walls. So, I cam up with her own little paint project. I blew up a family portrait of my family’s beach trip (I am one of nine kids) from last summer and got it printed at Staples in their engineer print section. I think it may have cost around $3.00? I used some painters tape to tape it to the wall, pulled out some paint, paintbrush, water, and paper towels and let her go at it. She was so excited!

She was painting before I knew it. I started her accent wall, while she painted our family. It was awesome. We got to talk, hang out together, both do something we love, and just have fun creating. I loved hearing her little giggle as she painted. I would turn and she would squeal, “mom, I just painted daddy BLUE”!

She happily worked on and off her project while I painted her accent wall purple. I can’t wait to show you what else I am going to do to this wall. For now, we moved her painting to the closet, so I could paint the rest of her room a light pink. More about that later as well.

She is so proud of her painting, and I am so proud of her. Being her mom is one of the greatest gifts.

If you’re interested in some of the things pictured above, you can find more info here…

Log End Table

Painted Stool

Yellow Desk

I will probably wait a little while but as the painting gets worn or falls down, I will probably secretly take it down. I’m thinking it might actually make awesome wrapping paper, or maybe I should mail it to one of those family members and say Reagan wanted them to hang it up in their house. Ha!

This was a fun activity for my preschooler. I think it would also be fun to turn this idea into your very own pin the tail on ____________. There are lots of ways to modify this idea to make your own party game. Have you ever blown up a picture and had it printed as an engineer print?

I hope you are having a good week! We had some warmer weather here in Indiana this week and were playing outside in sweatshirts!

Fall Essentials

August 18, 2014 By Erica Deuel 7 Comments

Disclosure: I received these items from Duluth Trading Company for free to review, but when I swoon and say I love them…that is all me. I love this company!

The weather is getting cooler, the nights are getting shorter, and everywhere you look you see back to school signs, pictures, and reminders that summer is over. It went too fast. I love everything about summer, but I must say fall is my favorite.

It may be because I am a November born baby and live in Georgia. The trees turn the most beautiful colors around my birthday and I can’t help but yearn to be in them. You may remember my birthday hike last year where I wore my new favorite flannel from Duluth Trading Company.

As crazy as it is to think about, it is that time of year again! Fall is here! I wore my Free Swingin Flapjack Flannel just about everyday last year. I loved it. I found that it was so warm, cute and could cover my bed shirts in a fashionable way as I grabbed it quickly when leaving the house.

I was so excited when giving the opportunity to try more of Duluth Trading’s awesome products.

As a busy mom of three, that homeschools and wants my kids around me constantly, I am guilty of not taking care of myself. When there is money to spend I would rather buy my kids new jeans than to do something for myself. I am often tired and have gray hairs because of it. Can you relate?

The older I get though, the more I am aware of quality and wanting to live simply. In my younger years, I loved to buy all those clearance shirts and items that I may wear one day for that perfect party, dinner, bridal shower, etc. Now that I have a few years of unworn items in my closet and experienced wearing amazing-ness all last fall in my Duluth Flannel, I so would rather have a few quality items that I love and hold up to my crazy life.

That is Duluth Trading Company. They make amazing products for the everyday use. They are not intended to be worn once or twice on a beautiful model, but to be used daily, worn well by real people. They are made to last and are incredible. I can honestly say, my flannel from last year (that I wore everyday), looks as good today as the day I originally pulled it out of the box.

This year, I am excited to put my new Crosscut Flannel Tunic to the same test. I love how soft it feels, the pockets, convertible sleeves with snaps, extra length, flexibility to move as life requires, and it is still so cute. I mean, look at that turquoise. Is it me or what?

I am also ecstatic to try their Lifetime Leather Messenger Bag as well. We all know as busy moms we continually have items floating around in the car. I feel like at any one item I am trying to carry like thirty items with me as we load in the van. Often there are books to finish up school at a park or waiting room, change of clothes for my stubborn three-year old (who doesn’t mind having accidents in her car seat), packages to mail at the post office, my calendar, snacks, etc.

This bag is beautiful, and it will be my go to-to help carry all those items as we leave the house.

When my Duluth Trading package arrive, I literally pulled out my bag and held it up to my nose to smell. You can see the quality instantly. It is made of thick, supple, oiled beautiful cowhide and will last for years. Duluth Trading has said it has “old world quality and attention to detail.” Which is a big deal. You can read more here, but they test their products out on real people living life months before the product ever hits the market. They take in feedback, tweak their product and release a perfect product. I know this bag will grow even more beautiful with use.

I love how this bag has a front flap that secures with an antique brass hardware and hidden magnetic closure. The inner pockets allow for some organization to be able to grab items quickly and easily, and the adjustable strap with padded shoulder grip makes this a comfortable bag. I foresee using it often.

I am especially excited to use it to hold my craft supplies that I take on just about every outing that we will be in the car for longer than 3o minutes (which is often in Atlanta).

I wouldn’t share this company with you unless I meant it when I said they are awesome. I know I will use these items all the time, and now that I have them-I believe they are fall essentials. I am so excited to have something that I love and will help this tired mom feel a bit more just like a girl. Go indulge browsing Duluth Trading and get something for you (or your man) while preparing for the fall. You won’t regret it.

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